2018 Pacific Typhoon Season (Garfield/Bob/Chap/Gary/Roussil)
The 2018 Pacific Typhoon Season was one of the quietest typhoon seasons on record. Although the season featured a slightly above average number of tropical storms (29), nearly all of the storms that formed were weak. Only six typhoons formed, and no super typhoons formed. This season was the first West Pacific season since 1977 without a Category 5 super typhoon, and the first since 1974 with no super typhoons at all. On top of all this, it was the first typhoon season on record without a Typhoon exceeding Category 3 status. Timeline ImageSize = width:800 height:290 PlotArea = top:10 bottom:80 right:20 left:20 Legend = columns:2 left:30 top:58 columnwidth:270 AlignBars = early DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:31/12/2017 till:01/01/2019 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMinor = grid:black unit:month increment:1 start:31/12/2017 Colors = id:canvas value:gray(0.88) id:GP value:red id:TD value:rgb(0.38,0.73,1) legend:Tropical_Depression_=_≤62_km/h_(≤39_mph) id:TS value:rgb(0,0.98,0.96) legend:Tropical_Storm_=_63-88_km/h_(39-54_mph) id:ST value:rgb(0.80,1,1) legend:Severe_Tropical_Storm_=_89-117_km/h_(55-73_mph) id:TY value:rgb(0.99,0.69,0.6) legend:Typhoon_=_≥118_km/h_(≥74_mph) Backgroundcolors = canvas:canvas BarData = barset:Hurricane bar:month PlotData= barset:Hurricane width:10 align:left fontsize:S shift:(4,-4) anchor:till from:01/01/2018 till:01/01/2018 color:TS text:"Kai-tak" from:04/01/2018 till:06/01/2018 color:TS text:"Tembin" from:07/01/2018 till:10/01/2018 color:TS text:"Bolaven" from:30/01/2018 till:31/01/2018 color:TD text:"04W" from:05/02/2018 till:12/02/2018 color:TS text:"Sanba" from:27/02/2018 till:02/03/2018 color:ST text:"Jelawat" from:01/03/2018 till:24/03/2018 color:TS text:"Ewinlar" from:13/03/2018 till:17/03/2018 color:TS text:"Maliksi" from:05/04/2018 till:06/04/2018 color:TD text:"09W" from:21/04/2018 till:27/04/2018 color:TD text:"10W" from:15/05/2018 till:19/05/2018 color:TS text:"Gaemi" from:17/05/2018 till:21/05/2018 color:TS text:"Prapiroon" from:31/05/2018 till:13/06/2018 color:ST text:"Maria" from:12/06/2018 till:18/06/2018 color:ST text:"Son-Tinh" from:18/06/2018 till:21/06/2018 color:TD text:"Ampil" barset:break from:04/07/2018 till:11/07/2018 color:TS text:"16W" from:16/07/2018 till:20/07/2018 color:ST text:"Wukong" from:10/07/2018 till:21/07/2018 color:ST text:"Jongdari" from:19/07/2018 till:21/07/2018 color:TS text:"Shanshan" from:20/07/2018 till:30/07/2018 color:ST text:"Yagi" from:31/07/2018 till:02/08/2018 color:TS text:"Leepi" from:15/08/2018 till:19/08/2018 color:ST text:"Bebinca" from:20/08/2018 till:25/08/2018 color:TY text:"Rumbia" from:23/08/2018 till:28/08/2018 color:TY text:"Soulik" from:29/08/2018 till:04/09/2018 color:TY text:"Cimaron" from:31/08/2018 till:02/09/2018 color:TD text:"26W" from:01/09/2018 till:11/09/2018 color:ST text:"Jebi" bar:Month width:5 align:center fontsize:S shift:(0,-20) anchor:middle color:canvas from:31/12/2017 till:01/02/2018 text:January from:01/02/2018 till:01/03/2018 text:February from:01/03/2018 till:01/04/2018 text:March from:01/04/2018 till:01/05/2018 text:April from:01/05/2018 till:01/06/2018 text:May from:01/06/2018 till:01/07/2018 text:June from:01/07/2018 till:01/08/2018 text:July from:01/08/2018 till:01/09/2018 text:August from:01/09/2018 till:01/10/2018 text:September from:01/10/2018 till:01/11/2018 text:October from:01/11/2018 till:01/12/2018 text:November from:01/12/2018 till:01/01/2019 text:December Storms Tropical Storm Kai-tak (Agaton) Kai-tak existed for only 18 hours. Tropical Storm Tembin An area of disturbed weather developed into a tropical depression over the tropical Western Pacific on January 4, far from any land areas. The depression strengthened into Tropical Storm Tembin the next day, and quickly transitioned into an extratropical cyclone on January 6 as it accelerated northeastward. Tropical Storm Bolaven (Basyang) Early on January 5, a weak tropical disturbance formed within the monsoon trough. Development of the system was not initially expected due to moderate amounts of vertical wind shear in its path. After about a day of meandering generally westward, however, the disturbance began to gradually strengthen due to a decrease in vertical wind shear. On January 7, the JMA and the JTWC declared the disturbance as a tropical depression. Later that day, PAGASA began issuing advisories on the depression as well, naming it Basyang. In the evening of January 7, the JMA upgraded the tropical depression to a tropical storm and gave it the name Bolaven. While Bolaven was a tropical storm, it started travelling northwestward and eventually skirted the western coast of Taiwan. Shortly after moving away from Taiwan, however, Bolaven weakened into a tropical depression and, being influenced by an upper-level ridge located over western China, began travelling northeastward. In the evening of January 10, Bolaven degenerated into a remnant low. In Taiwan, monetary effects from Bolaven were minimal. This overall lack of damage was attributed to the government of Taiwan's effective early warning systems and Bolaven skirting the flatter western coast of Taiwan instead of its more mountainous eastern coast. Wind gusts up to 72 mph (116 km/h) were observed in Tainan City. Over 50,000 people in western and central Taiwan lost power due to Bolaven. In Taichung City, two people were killed after a tree fell on their car. A flash flood killed one person in Linnan. In Japan's Ryukyu Islands, which Bolaven passed through, no damage or deaths were reported. Overall, Bolaven killed 3 people and caused at least $1.3 million in damages. Tropical Depression 04W Tropical Storm Sanba Severe Tropical Storm Jelawat (Caloy) Tropical Storm Ewiniar (Domeng) On February 26, a tropical wave emerged from the Central Pacific. The wave rapidly developed and was declared Tropical Depression 07W on March 1. The depression soon was determined to have reached wind speeds of gale force and was declared Tropical Storm Ewiniar the next day. However, on March 4 Ewiniar began to approach land and upon reaching a peak of 50 mph did not strengthen any further as in roared ashore in the Philippines. Ewiniar's center emerged over the coast once again, however 20-knot shear prevented it from strengthening. Ewiniar soon weakened back down to 45 mph and began to travel northwest. Ewiniar began to move over cooler waters and suddenly came to a halt. Ewiniar stayed mostly stationary for around ten days and reaching a second peak of 50 mph on March 9. On March 15, Ewiniar, influenced by sudden northwesternly shear, began to move very slowly towards Japan. Ewiniar made landfall in the coastline of southern Japan on March 21 and weakened down to 45 mph before moving over waters once again. The storm began to rapidly lose organization and Ewiniar weakened down to a depression on March 23. Ewiniar transitioned into an extratropical storm on March 24 and then dissipated the next day. Tropical Storm Ewiniar was the longest lived tropical storm on record in the Western Pacifc, despite not even reaching severe tropical storm status. The storm caused minimal impacts in both the Philippines and Japan, however did result in five fatalities, one in the Philippines and four in Japan. Tropical Storm Maliksi Tropical Depression 09W Tropical Depression 10W Tropical Storm Gaemi Tropical Storm Prapiroon Severe Tropical Storm Maria On May 30, the JMA designated a small low pressure system over the open Western Pacific a tropical depression. The depression was classified as Tropical Depression 13W by the JTWC at 12:00 UTC on May 31. Despite being forecast to become a typhoon for nearly all of its life, the depression struggled to organize due to dry air and moderate westerly wind shear; however, it finally developed into a tropical storm at 18:00 UTC on June 2 and was named Maria by the JMA at that time. Shortly after becoming named, strong westerly shear exposed Maria's low level circulation, and Maria weakened back to a tropical depression at 12:00 UTC on June 3. Although global models predicted Maria would develop into a strong typhoon by the time it reached the subtropical Western Pacific, wind shear did not decrease at all for the next several days and Maria remained a tropical depression, nearly degenerating into a remnant low several times. Wind shear finally decreased slightly on June 9, allowing Maria to regain tropical storm status by 06:00 UTC on June 10. Even though shear decreased briefly, Maria struggled with dry stable air and only strengthened slowly. Maria strengthened to its peak intensity with maximum winds (both 1 and 10-minute sustained) of 70 mph at 12:00 UTC on June 13; however, most of this strengthening was caused by baroclinic processes. Maria then transitioned into an extratropical cyclone with hurricane-force winds six hours later, having never reached typhoon intensity despite being forecast to do so much of its life. The extratropical remnants of Maria dissipated two days later, near eastern Russia. Severe Tropical Storm Son-Tinh Tropical Depression Ampil Tropical Storm 16W Severe Tropical Storm Wukong Severe Tropical Storm Jongdari Tropical Storm Shanshan Severe Tropical Storm Yagi Tropical Storm Leepi Tropical Depression 21W formed south of Weizhou Island at 06:00 UTC on July 31. JMA also designated the system a tropical depression at the same time. The depression strengthened slightly later that day as it emerged into the Gulf of Tonkin, being named Tropical Storm Leepi by the JMA at 18:00 UTC that afternoon. Leepi strengthened to a peak intensity with maximum 10-minute sustained winds of 50 mph and an estimated minimum pressure of 987 mb, and made landfall in Northern Vietnam at this intensity early on August 1. Leepi's circulation dissipated over land by 06:00 UTC on August 2. Severe Tropical Storm Bebinca At 00:00 UTC on August 15, the JMA and JTWC both classified a tropical disturbance as a tropical depression well to the north-northeast of Taiwan. It strengthened into a tropical storm six hours later and was named Bebinca by the JMA. Marginally warm waters allowed Bebinca to strengthen slightly into a severe tropical storm early on August 16. Bebinca then began to slowly weaken over the cool waters of Yellow Sea as it moved slowly northward. Bebinca began to accelerate to the north-northeast on August 18, and made landfall in South Hwanghae, North Korea around 19:00 UTC that day. Bebinca weakened to a tropical depression near Pyongyang at 00:00 UTC on August 19, dissipating six hours later. Typhoon Rumbia Typhoon Soulik On August 23, a Tropical Depression formed east of the Philippines. It initially did not intensify much, but manged to become Tropical Storm Soulik on August 24. It reached an initial peak of 45 mph before making landfall in the Philippines. It weakened as it moved over the country, but emerged over the favorable South China Sea on August 25, where it began rapid intensification, becoming the first typhoon of the season that day. Soulik was the latest first typhoon in a season on record. It rapidly intensified to peak winds of 120 mph (1-min sustained) as an eye cleared out on satellite. However, drier air caused Soulik to weaken to a Category 2, and it made landfall in China at this intensity, weakening commenced, and Soulik was declared a remnant low on August 28. Typhoon Cimaron A tropical disturbance in the monsoon trough was designated a tropical depression by the JMA on August 28 over the Philippine Sea. The next day, convective banding improved and the circulation became better defined, and this resulted in the JTWC classifying the system as Tropical Depression 25W. The depression quickly strengthened into a tropical storm six hours later and was named Cimaron at that time. Cimaron was expected to strike the Philippines as a typhoon. However, an unusually strong trough of low pressure located over eastern Asia caused Cimaron to abruptly turn northward on August 31; little strengthening had occurred by that point due to dry air entrained in Cimaron's core. After turning northward, Cimaron mixed out the dry air and began to intensify. An 18-hour period of rapid intensification occurred on September 2, with Cimaron's maximum sustained 1-minute winds increasing from 65 to 110 mph. At this time, JTWC predicted Cimaron to keep intensifying into a super typhoon. This did not occur, and Cimaron began to weaken on September 3 due to cooler waters and increasing wind shear. Cimaron made landfall over central Japan on September 4 as a tropical storm. Overall impacts in Japan were minimal. Cimaron transitioned into an extratropical cyclone late that day, dissipating completely the next day. Tropical Depression 26W Severe Tropical Storm Jebi Tropical Depression 28W Tropical Depression 29W Mangkhut Typhoon Barijat Trami Tropical Depression 33W Typhoon Kong-rey Severe Tropical Storm Yutu Tropical Depression 36W Tropical Depression 37W Tropical Depression 38W Toraji Tropical Storm Man-yi Season Effects Storm Names Category:Weak Storms